LABOR EXPENSES HAMPER U.S. FIRMS' RESULTS

The biggest Japanese automakers earned an average $2,400 more per vehicle sold in North America than U.S.-based rivals in 2005 by charging more and spending less on labor and health care, according to a study released Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. persuaded buyers to pay an average $24,289 per vehicle, 12 percent more than U.S. automakers, the Harbour-Felax Group study said. The Japanese paid $1,400 less per vehicle on health care, and their workers spent more time on the job.

The study highlights topics that will be raised as General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler prepare to negotiate a four-year contract with the United Auto Workers. Ford and GM are working to revive profit after first-half losses, and Chrysler expects a $1.5 billion deficit in the third quarter.

"It's time for the Detroit Three and the UAW to get together and resolve these problems," Jim Harbour, the study's co-author, said in a statement.

This year's first half showed some improvement for GM's per-vehicle earnings. In the first six months of 2006, GM lost $326 for each vehicle it made, compared with $1,271 last year. GM reduced its reliance on rebates and other incentives and cut back on low-profit sales to rental-car companies and other fleet operators, Harbour-Felax said.

Ford, by contrast, lost ground. In this year's first half, Ford's per-vehicle loss rose to $738 from $451 in 2005. The study didn't give information on Chrysler's first-half performance.

"I believe you're going to see another strong quarter for General Motors," Laurie Harbour-Felax, who wrote the study with her father, Jim, said in an interview. "They really have gone the furthest in engineering efficiencies and lowering labor costs."

Under current contracts, GM, Ford and Chrysler must continue to pay union employees in "jobs bank" programs even when there's no work for them, the study said. By comparison, workers at Toyota, Honda and other Asia-based automakers take less vacation and get shorter breaks.

Sales and market-share declines at GM, Ford and Chrysler "over the last year have substantially increased the leverage they will have in bargaining with the union," said Michael Robinet, an analyst with CSM Worldwide, an automotive consulting company in Farmington Hills, Mich.